The Unfolding of a Life Story
The Birth of Jesus
If someone was to write the story of your life, what would they write? How might they capture, in written word, who you are?
Sure, they could write about the events of your life,
but can events alone convey who you really are as a person?
How does one describe the essence of another person's being?
Is it even possible to do so?
For Christians around the world, the focus of the Christmas season is still a "babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." But how should we interpret the accounts of Jesus' birth as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke?
Were the gospel writers simply recording literal details surrounding the circumstances of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem?
Or were they somehow trying to convey metaphorically,
through the stories of angels and stars and shepherds and wisemen,
the essence of who this baby really was - the Messiah –
who would one day grow up to be the Saviour of the world.
Let me try to explain what I'm getting at in this way.
We may say of someone - they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Does that mean we should look for a piece of cutlery in the baby pictures?
Of course not - if you were to interpret this expression literally,
you would miss the point altogether.
Let me give you another example.
Did you know that it was said of St. Ambrose,
that while he was still a baby, a swarm of bees was discovered in his mouth?
Now, I think it's safe to say only a fool would ask for a picture to prove it.
This is simply a literary device which is used to convey the idea
that Ambrose displayed honeyed eloquence when he spoke.
It's not a lesson on the hive building activities of bees.
Classical literature also tells us the orphaned child Romulus survived because he was adopted by a pack of wolves and nursed by a she-wolf. Again, one shouldn't expect to see a picture of him with the rest of the pack. This is a way of saying that Romulus was destined for greatness. It's not really a lesson on wilderness survival skills.
You see, anyone anxious to prove these stories were not true
would have to show, not that these events never took place,
but that Ambrose was not eloquent and that Romulus was not great.
We have to determine where the truth lies in these stories.
And the same holds true for the accounts of Jesus' birth.
The Christmas story, as recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke,
are filled with truth about Jesus, but where exactly does the truth lie?
What is literal? What is metaphor? What is the story behind the story?
My roommate at the University of Western Ontario was Scott Warden,
and Scott’s father was the Canadian High Commissioner to India.
Every year, Scott would fly to the Canadian Consulate in New Delhi
to spend Christmas with his family.
When he got back to school in January,
he told me when Christians in India recounted the Christmas story,
they always made sure to mention that Jesus was born in a stable
and laid in a manger between two cows.
This tidbit of information seemed rather odd, especially since it's not something we in the Western world tend to emphasize in our re-telling of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.
But can you see the importance of this tidbit
of information for the Christians in India?
Cows are sacred and holy animals in India.
Therefore, saying that Jesus was laid in a manger between two cows,
is a special way of saying that this baby was sacred and holy.
I don't know if two cows were really there or not.
There may or may not have been cows present
in the stable on that first Christmas morn.
But one shouldn't demand to see a snapshot of Jesus with the Jerseys,
in order to determine whether this rendition of the story is true or not.
The Christians in India were simply saying that Jesus was holy.
And if anyone wanted to discredit or discount their version of the story, they would have to prove that Jesus wasn't special or holy.
Now, you may remember the story of the wicked king Herod
trying to get rid of the infant Jesus by slaughtering all the babes in Bethlehem. An unconscionable act of violence towards innocent children.
But you see, that's really an echo of the Moses' story,
when he escaped the plans of the wicked Pharoah
to murder all the first-born Hebrew children.
It's a story which says: Jesus is a new Moses,
born to lead his people out of slavery.
And you will, no doubt, recall the title given to the infant Jesus
as he's born in Bethlehem, which was also to be written on a sign
and placed above his head as he hung upon the cross: King of the Jews.
That's really an echo of the David story.
David, the Bethlehem shepherd,
who became the greatest king the Hebrews ever had.
It's a story which says: Jesus is a new David,
bringing that peace which all people long for.
And I know you're familiar with the story
of the wisemen or Magi following a star
from the east, and upon finding the infant Jesus,
offering him gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh.
That's really an echo of the Solomon story,
where kings and queens came from the east
to offer Solomon their gifts, and where the queen of Sheba, according to Midrashic Jewish writings, was led to him by a star.
It's a story which says: Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
A new Moses, a new David, a new Solomon,
all that was most worthwhile about their national history. That's what the disciples had discovered Jesus to be,
in his life, in his teaching, in his death and resurrection,
and in their experience of his continued presence with them.
No wonder they wrote about his birth with such enthusiasm.
When I read the story of Jesus' birth of a virgin mother,
it speaks to me of the utter kindness and generosity of God, and of God's creative power which can draw new life out of empty wombs and empty tombs, then and now.
When I read the story of the message from heaven,
of angelic choirs, of glory to God in the highest and peace on earth,
I hear an echo of Christ's own words as he said just that to his disciples, "Shalom, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give you." And he's continued to say that to millions of people ever since.
In fact, when I read any of the gospel stories,
I breathe a sigh of relief because that which is most deeply true
about Jesus has been preserved for you and me in beautiful stories
which can be repeated from generation to generation,
and not in abstract arguments which may be relevant today,
but tomorrow be as dead as October leaves.
It's through these stories that Christ continues to come to us today,
and invites us to participate in the ongoing story of his life.
In closing, just listen to part of the story of Jesus' birth once again,
and listen to the story behind the Christmas story of the wisemen.
"The star which they had seen in the east went before them,
till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they fell down and worshipped him." (Matthew 2: 9-11)
Literally speaking, we know that no star can come “to rest” over a stable.
It’s simply scientifically impossible for a star, which is the sun of another
solar system, to invade our solar system without catastrophic consequences,
namely the complete and instant combustion of our entire planet.
But metaphorically, when I read this passage properly, I’m challenged to ask myself a very different kind of question, "Am I willing to be numbered among the wise of every generation who fall down and worship Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord?" But my question doesn't put the challenge half as strongly, or half as beautifully as the story does.